Social media has changed the way we live and interact with others, and that includes brands and companies. The mere fact that a company doesn’t exist on social media can be detrimental to itself, missing out on many opportunities for communication and attracting new customers.

Having a social media presence is crucial and extremely beneficial for business in a variety of ways. Keep reading and find out which are the main benefits to consider:

 

1. Get attention & Improve brand awareness

The internet is currently one of the main channels to attract and win new customers: people search for products and services, compare prices, read reviews from other customers, and decide which is the best place to make a purchase.

If you’re not present on the main social media, and if people don’t know your business, they will not become your customers. Social media can be a great ally when the goal is to increase visibility among potential customers and build greater brand awareness. Through a regular presence in these platforms it’s possible to reach wide audiences, without it requiring much time, effort, and money (the creation of these profiles is free!).

 

2. Construct and Communicate Authority

The publication of quality content on social media is a very efficient way for companies to position themselves as an authority in their area of expertise.

As I mentioned before, customers are increasingly savvier and more discerning about which businesses they support, and they’ll do a quick trip throughout websites and social media before deciding which product or service to buy.

Thus, building complete profiles and regularly updating them with relevant content for your target audience will help you to build your brand’s authority and make sure you make a positive first impression through social media. This will show that your business is trustworthy, knowledgeable, and approachable. In addition, increased authority on social media will make it more likely that your business will be remembered when consumers find themselves in a situation where your business can help.

There are several ways in which you can demonstrate your expertise as a thought leader in your industry: videos on Youtube, Blog articles related to your expertise, tips in Stories or Instagram posts, etc. The important thing is to show that your company understands the subject.

 

3. Engage with your customers & foment a healthier customer satisfaction

By creation, social networks aim an interaction between at least two parts. For this reason, when companies create social media profiles, it is not enough to make random publications, it’s necessary that they relate to (potential) customers, whether via comments, likes and / or shares.

Each post is an opportunity for engaging and interacting with the public, and the more you communicate with the audience, the more chances you have of conversion, relationship building and customer loyalty.

Set up a two-way communication with your target audience, get to know their wishes, opinions, reclamations, and requests so that their interest is catered with ease. Try to respond as quickly as possible to questions and concerns and go out of your way to be positive and helpful. Customers appreciate the fact that when they post comments on your page, they receive a modified reply rather than a computerized message: it makes them feel that your brand/company values its customers and what they think of it. Moreover, communication and engagement with customers is one the ways to win their attention and convey them your brand message, helping you reach more audience and generate more interest around your company, brand, products, or services.

The greater the engagement with your publications, the greater the reach they take within social networks, reaching more people and generating more business and authority, making your brand relevant.

Oh, and don't forget to measure the results of your publications: stay tuned and understand what generates the most buzz on your pages.

 

4. Improved brand loyalty

The fact that social media provide a quicker, simpler and more direct contact between companies or brands and their clients, strengthening the link between brand-client, makes it possible to generate the confidence necessary for customer loyalty. Since developing a loyal customer base is one of the main goals of almost any business, it is essential to often engage with your customers and start developing a bond with them.

 

5. Marketplace awareness

The social media are a great ally and a complementary research tool when you want to learn more about your target (their demographic characteristics, needs, wants and interests), the competition or just get more information and a better understanding of your industry.

By observing the activities on your profile and on those of your biggest competitors, you can discover customers’ interest and opinions that you might not know otherwise if you didn’t have a social media presence. By analysing the profile of your competitors, you can discover new content that attracts the public, and that you haven’t yet tried, or you can learn something that can contribute to the improvement of your relationship with your consumers.

All these insights, plus the metrics available on these platforms, are an asset for the development of high-performance marketing and sales strategies.

 

6. Increase your website traffic & Enhance SEO rankings

By sharing links on your posts or adding them on your profile description, and by sharing your contents on social media, you’re giving users a reason to click-through to your website and increase the chances of generating more traffics to your institutional channels.

In addition, greater traffic results in greater relevance of your channel on search engines, such as Google, for example, placing your website among the highlights. Nowadays, to secure a successful ranking, it’s no longer enough to simply optimize your website and regularly update your blog: businesses need to share their contents on social media in order to foment more traffic to their website and send out a signal to search engine, showing their brand's validity, integrity, and constancy.

 

In conclusion…

Is it important for a business to be present on social media? There’s no closed answer to this question, since, ultimately, it depends on your business area. This decision and the choice of platforms on which your company or brand will create a profile will vary from industry to industry, depending on your strategic positioning, the profile of your target audience and the social media where they're more active, among other factors depending on your marketing strategy.

However, it must be borne in mind that, increasingly, the internet and social networks are part of the daily lives of consumers and are a support when making a purchase decision. It is undeniable that companies and brands that have a strong social media presence will increase conversion rates, while those without active social media campaigns could lose potential customers. Which one do you wish to be?